The 25-year-old is expected to complete a €37 million deal to the Partenopei in the coming days having passed his medical with the Naples-based club earlier this week.

And Benitez is confident his acquisition will enjoy a fruitful first season at the club.

"Higuain is very strong and was a key player in a team like Real Madrid. I know him well and the staff at Real speak very highly of him," he told reporters.

"It is important to sign players like this if Napoli continue to progress and I am convinced he will score more goals than anybody else we have this season."

The Spaniard went on to state he would be happy to see Juan Zuniga - whose contract expires in 2014 - remain at the club this summer amid speculation Juventus are lining up a swoop for the Colombia international.

"For me the situation is very clear. He is important for us and I would be happy if he could stay," Benitez explained. "I will speak to him and figure out what is best. We are working hard to get him to stay."

Meanwhile, Benitez admitted he was pleasantly surprised to see Liverpool sanction the on-loan signing of goalkeeper Pepe Reina, whom the coach previously brought to Anfield.

"We worked on Julio Cesar but we could not get him, but Reina was a big surprise for us," he said. "We made Liverpool an offer and they agreed."